TRENDS TOWARDS INTERNET USAGE AMONG COLLEGE TEACHERS OF LODHRAN DISTRICT, SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

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1 University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal) Libraries at University of Nebraska-Lincoln June 2014 TRENDS TOWARDS INTERNET USAGE AMONG COLLEGE TEACHERS OF LODHRAN DISTRICT, SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN Rubina Bhatti Islamia University of Bahawalpur, dr.rubytariq@yahoo.com Mian Nazir Ahmad Govt. Degree College, Kahror pacca, Lodhran Shakeel Ahmad Khan GC University, Lahore Follow this and additional works at: Part of the Library and Information Science Commons Bhatti, Rubina; Ahmad, Mian Nazir; and Khan, Shakeel Ahmad, "TRENDS TOWARDS INTERNET USAGE AMONG COLLEGE TEACHERS OF LODHRAN DISTRICT, SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN" (2014). Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

2 TRENDS TOWARDS INTERNET USAGE AMONG COLLEGE TEACHERS OF LODHRAN DISTRICT, SOUTH PUNJAB, PAKISTAN Abstract Dr. Rubina Bhatti Mian Nazir Ahmad Shakeel Ahmad Khan The purpose of this study was to explore the use of internet among the college teachers of district Lodhran including purposes of use, its impact on teaching and learning, usage of internet resources and to identify the problems during using internet. Survey research method has been selected for this study and well-established questionnaire was used to collect data from the college teachers of district Lodhran. Total respondent were 134 and response rate was 115 (85.82%). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that college teachers frequently used internet facilities to improve their knowledge and information related to their subject. Respondents used internet for literature search, , sometimes for the preparation of lectures and updating the information. Results shows load shedding, slow speed, insufficient awareness of internet usage techniques were major problems. There is need to improve IT infrastructure in the colleges of district Lodhran including internet access in college libraries for teachers as well as students and provide adequate training to the teachers for internet using. Keywords: College teachers, Internet usage, purposes, district Lodhran, South Punjab Paper type: Research paper Introduction The use of Internet is rapidly increasing due to its effectiveness and ability in providing right information to the right person at the right time. It works around the clock and links every corner of the world. Internet has become an inescapable need for every institution of higher education (Thanuskodi, 2011). Revolution of information technology in the world has affected all the disciplines of society. Due to electronic technology the whole world has become a global village. Particularly internet has changed the entire world. Internet has affected information seeking behavior of researchers and social scientists. Internet has played a significant role to spread education and updating information. Internet has created the changes in the concept of library (Bhatti, 2013). The use of Internet is quickly increasing outstanding to its effectiveness and capability in providing right information to the right person at the right time. It uses throughout the world around the clock and connects every curve of the world. Internet has become an inevitable necessity for every society of every country. Internet is also gateway for libraries and information centers to enter the Electronic Information Age and is providing the information, produced by different organizations, institutions, societies, research centers and individuals all over the world. The internet has fragmented obstacles of communication entrance from anywhere in the world. It is fast, reliable and does not have limits on content or format (except in certain countries). It also has an unlimited choice of facilities which support users to access the almost infinite information on the net. It has changed the feature of publishing 1

3 also. The internet deals the opportunity to access up-to-date research reports and knowledge globally in topics as diverse as science and technology, business and finance, music and the arts. Thus, it has become an important module of electronic services in academic institutions and thereby an invaluable tool for learning and research (Al-Ansari, 2006). The use of the Internet in the educational environment has supported easy access to many resources. Moreover, the occurrence of this distribution has brought additional benefits in that case; these resources can be used in any location and any time. The effect of the Internet in educational institutions is, quite limited. We have required identifying the impacts of Internet resources used by college teachers and student. Internet use, especially in education, has been investigated for some time, and many different studies, exist in literature about that matter. Usage of internet is growing vastly in Pakistan over the years. Use of internet is increasing day by day due to its importance. Literature Review Bhatti s study (2013) revealed that information technology has dynamically encouraged the research activities, provide necessary motivations for the research output produced by the faculty members. They also concluded the departmental libraries should be linked with the college main library and improved the various library services to be improved i.e. reprographic services, photocopy services, interlibrary loan and reference services. They also suggested that library OPAC may also be designed for sake of library connection with the locally and internationally changed to the whole world by individual to individual and organization to organization. Due to this change this world has become a global village. Internet is an integrated and inevitable part of these disciplines of the society. It has a great impact for social scientist also. It is observed that 94% respondents use internet on daily basis. Different search engines have been used for seeking information by the users. The result has pointed out that users utilize the different online data bases for acquire their information like, Emerald, Science Direct, JSTOR. Most of the students use internet for their study purpose. Prabakaran, (2013) pointed out that e resources are inevitably impact on learning, teaching, and research throughout the world especially in case of faculty members. E resources are considered key element unanimously for gaining knowledge in the world. Some causes and problems are considered hinders for accessing these sources such as inadequate electricity supply, insufficient terminals, lack of information retrieval skills from these resources. So, the need is to overcome these blunt issues. It is also necessary to organize training programs for faculty members to utilize these E-Resources. Thanuskodi (2011) study exposed that libraries has changed their role regarding collection services due to presence of several kind of e-resources. E-resources have significant impact on the faculty member s attitude to gain information and seem to be very positive to their studies. Due to these resources, the space problems and budgetary limitations are also reduced to some extent. Faculty members are seems to be heavily dependence on these e-resources in attaining information and conducting lecture. He negated that perception regarding less or limited role of library as gateway to the e-resources. Libraries may change their role in shape of guidance, training and tutorial program me for using these e-resources He also suggested that libraries would have to 2

4 develop their tools for user satisfaction i.e. Wi-Fi, speed of internet, so that faculty members can use online e-resources within the campus. Baby and Kumaravel (2011) pointed out that the 86.27% of the staff members used internet services most frequently. Study further reveals that the library visited by the users is being increased with the passage of time due to certain reasons; one of them is presently libraries equipped with technological resources. Considering these signs, libraries having sufficient space to entertain the users and their requirements, library should have sufficient space for latest additions and required documents to encourage the users to visit regularly. They suggested college management should make a favorable environment which promotes extra sophisticated information research processes. Muniandy (2010) explored that approximately 30 % students have good internet usage skills.mostly students use their own laptop and personal computers. Students use internet services at internet cafes, university or outside the university. The study shows that the use of internet for learning is slightly varied. Nearly 50% students have not use internet for communication with their teachers. 94.6% students are good internet information user but never up load any information to the internet. The study shows that Google and yahoo are the favorite search engine for searching educational material but the use of academic data bases like proquest, library web resources and university electronic resources is very low. All students know that they can use internet any time and mostly students admit that the quality of their work is improved; knowledge is up dated and increased due to usage of internet. The study by Bhatti concluded that Internet has radical impact on the changing higher education environment (2010). It is interesting that Internet use among faculty members at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur is much higher than expected. It is broadly used for teaching and research purposes. Khan and Dominic (2009) added in their study that use of internet is vice versa of conventional documents. Dependency on internet is increasingly enhanced with the passage of time, so it is need of hours, that speed of internet as well as number of users as they increasingly growth, to be considered keenly and necessary steps to be taken towards it, so that access of information for every users to be assured at minimum levels. Objectives of the study: The objectives of the study is to find out the usage pattern, purposes of internet use, frequency of internet use, users, problems of internet usage and the impact of internet on teaching and research activities of college teachers in district Lodhran. Research Methodology: This study was conducted to discover internet usage among the college teachers in district Lodhran. Nine (five male and four female) colleges are situated in district Lodhran.1- Govt. Degree College (boys) Lodhran (GDC Lodhran), 2- Govt. Degree College (boys) Gogran (GDC Gogran), 3- Govt. Degree College (boys) Makhdoom Aali(GDC Makhdoom Aali), 4- Govt. Degree College (boys)dunya pur (GDC D.pur), 5- Govt. Degree College (boys) Kahror pacca (GDCKP), 6- Govt. Degree College(w) 365/W.B(GDCW 365/W.B), 7- Govt. Degree College(w) Lodhran(GDCW Lodhran), 8- Govt. Degree College (W) Kahror pacca(gdcwkp), 9- Govt. Degree College (W) Dunya pur(gdcw D.pur).There were total 134 male and female teachers working in colleges of district Lodhran.Total population was selected for survey so,134 questionnaire were distributed among the college teachers and 115 3

5 (85.8 %) responses were received. The study adopted the survey method to examine the use of internet among college teachers of Lodhran district. The questionnaire has been carefully designed and distributed among the college teachers. In order to ensure reliability and effectiveness of the instrument, the questionnaire was pilot tested on 20 college teachers both male and female. On the basis of responses changes were made in the questionnaire and distributed among the population. Data Analysis and Discussion First part of questionnaire was about demographic information of the respondents. Through this part the information was collected about institutions, gender, designation, age and experience.. Table 1 Name of Institution Sr. Institution Frequency Percentage 1 GDC(B) Lodhran % 2 GDC(B) Gogran % 3 GDC(B) Makhdoom Aali % 4 GDC(B) Dunya pur % 5 GDC(B) Kahror pacca % 6 GDC(W) 365WB % 7 GDC(W) Lodhran % 8 GDC(W) Kahror pacca 8 7.0% 9 GDC(W) Dunya pur 8 7.0% Total % n of the respondents institution has been shown in table I. Freq uenc y distri butio 4

6 Total 9 male and female colleges were situated in district Lodhran. The questionnaire was distributed among all teachers (134) and 115 responded. Table II Gender Sr. Gender Frequency Percentage 1 Male % 2 Female % 3 Total % Frequency distribution of the respondents gender has been shown in Table II that the majority of respondents were male 74(64.3%) and 41(35.7%) were female. Figure 1 Designation Table III Sr. Designation Frequency Percentage 1 Lecturer % 5

7 2 Assistant Professor % 3 Associate Professor 1.9% Total Frequency distribution of the respondents designation has been shown in table III that the majority of respondent are lecturers 104(90.4%), assistant professors 10 (8.7%), and only 1(.9%) was associate professor. Figure 2 Table 2 Age Sr. Age Frequency Percentage 1 Less than 30 years % years % years % 6

8 4 Above 50 years 7 6.1% Total % Table 2 shows that 43(37.4%) teachers age is less than 30 years, 54(47.0%) are years, 11(9.6%) are of age years and 7(6,1%) are of above 50 years. Respondents Experience Table 3 Sr. Experience Frequency Percentage 1 up to 5 years % years % years 9 7.8% years % years 4 3.5% years 3 2.6% Total % It shows that majority of teachers 70(60.9%) have less than 5 year experience and 18(15.7%) have year experience. 9(7.8%) have year, 11(9.6%) have 16-20, 4(3.5%) have year experience and only 3(2.6%) have year experience. Table 5 Own computer Sr. Own computer Frequency Percentage 1 Yes % 2 No % Total % Respondents were asked the question Do you have your own computer? Response of this question has shown in frequency distribution Table 4. Result shows that101(87.8%) respondents have their own computers and 14(12.2%) respondents (college teachers) have not their own computers. Internet access in college Table 6 Sr. Internet access in college Frequency Percentage 7

9 1 Yes % 2 No 7 6.1% Total % Result shows that 108(93.9%) respondents have internet access in their colleges only 7(6.1%) respondents have no internet access in their colleges. Internet usage frequency Table 7 Sr. internet use Frequency Percentage 1 Never 5 4.3% 2 Daily % 3 Weekly % 4 Fortnightly 7 6.1% 5 Monthly % Total % The result shows that 62(53.9%) respondents were using internet daily, 29(25.2%) were using internet weekly, 7(6.1%) Fortnightly, 12(10.4%) monthly and 5(4.3%) respondent were not using internet. Purposes for using internet Table 8 Sr. Purpose for using internet Mean Std. D 1 Literature search Send and receive Up-date knowledge Assignments for teaching Reading articles Writing Articles Writing conference papers

10 8 Discussion groups Writing research thesis Preparation of lectures Pleasure and Entertainment Scale: 4= Always, 3= Frequently, 2= Sometimes, 1= Seldom, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding the use for using internet. The Likert scale was used to evaluate the data. It is apparent from the result of the descriptive statistics that the respondents use internet frequently for the purposes of literature search, up-date knowledge, send and receive with a mean score 3, 2.88 and 2.76 respectively. On the other hand, respondents use internet sometimes for the purposes of Assignments for teaching, Preparation of lectures Reading articles, Pleasure and Entertainment and Writing research thesis, Writing Articles, Discussion groups writing conference papers with a mean value 2.45, 2.38, 2.23, 2.10 and 1.28, 1.16,.83, 63 respectively Favorite Places for using internet Table 9 Sr. Like to use internet Mean Std. D 1 At home At college computer lab At Net café At college library Scale: 4= Always, 3= Frequently, 2= Sometimes, 1= Seldom, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding liking place for internet use among college teachers in District Lodhran. The five point Likert scale of measurement was used to evaluate the liking place for internet use among college teachers. It is clear from the results of the descriptive statistics that the respondents like to use internet for frequently at home with a mean score On the other hand respondents sometimes like to use internet at college computer lab with mean score 1.53 and respondents seldom use internet at college library with a mean value 0.72 and never used internet at net café with mean value Online searching Table 10 Sr. online search Mean Std. D 1 Information related to your subject Information related to politics

11 3 Information related to business Information related to entertainment Information to improve education Scale: 4= Always, 3= Frequently, 2= Sometimes, 1= Seldom, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding the use of information obtained through internet. The result of the descriptive statistics shows that the respondents frequently search information related to their subject, information to improve their education with a man score 3.34, On the other hand respondents search sometimes information related to entertainment and seldom search information related to politics and information related to business with a mean value 1.42, and 0.63 respectively. Importance of internet facilities Table 11 Sr. Importance of internet facilities Mean Std. D Web pages Search engines Chat facilities News channels Discussion group Downloading software Entertainment Scale: 3= Very important, 2= Important, 1= slightly important, 0= Not important Respondents were asked a question regarding importance of internet facilities. The four point Likert scale of measurement was used to evaluate the importance of internet facilities among college teachers. Most of respondents consider important the internet facilities: s, search engines, web pages, Downloading software, news channels, and entertainment with mean value 2.46, 2.18, 2.05, 1.63, 1.57, 1.57 respectively. On the other hand respondents consider slightly important discussion group and chat facilities with mean score 1.24 and Convenient Timings of using internet Table 12 10

12 Sr. Time of using internet Mean Std. D 1 Morning After noon Evening At night Scale: 4= Always, 3= Frequently, 2= Sometimes, 1= Seldom, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding time of using internet. It is clear from the results of the descriptive statistics that most the respondents use internet frequently at night with mean score 2.65 and respondents sometimes use internet at evening time with mean score 2.02.On the other hand respondents seldom use internet at afternoon and at morning with a mean value 1.42,1.33 respectively. Communication through instant messaging Table 13 Sr. Communication through instant messaging Mean Std.D 1 Family members Friends Colleagues Scale: 4= Always, 3= Frequently, 2= Sometimes, 1= Seldom, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding communication through instant messaging. The five point Likert scale of measurement was used to evaluate the communication through instant messaging among college teachers. It is clear from the results of the descriptive statistics that most the respondents like to communicate frequently through friends with a mean score On the other hand respondents sometimes like to communicate communication through colleagues and family members with mean score 2.41, 2.02 respectively. Impact of internet on job related activities Table 14 Sr. Impact of internet N Yes No 1 Now I save a lot of time (87.8%) 14(12.2%) 2 I have quick access to database (75.7%) 28(24.3%) 3 I can get up to date information easily (90.4%) 11(9.6%) 4 I can prepare my lecture easily (84.3%) 18(15.4%) 5 I can share problems with my colleagues (80.9%) 22(19.1%) 11

13 6 I can enhance my knowledge (96.5%) 4(3.5%) Respondents were asked a question regarding the impact of internet on their job related activities. The result of the descriptive statistics shows that the101 (87.8%) respondents save a lot of time, 87(75.7%) respondents have quick access to data base, 104(96.4) respondents answered that they can got up to date information easily, 97(84.3%) respondents answered that they can prepare lectures easily, 93(80.9%) answered that they can share problems with their colleagues and 111(96.5%)respondents answered that they can enhance their knowledge with the use of internet resources. Satisfaction about service provider Table 15 Sr. Satisfaction about service provider Frequency Percentage 1 Not satisfied 3 2.6% 2 Least satisfied % 3 Average satisfied % 4 Fully satisfied % Total % Respondents were asked a question about the satisfaction about service provider. The result of the descriptive statistics (frequency distribution) shows that 76(66.1%) respondents are averagesatisfied by the service provider, 25(21.7%) respondents were fully satisfied, 11(9.6%) respondents were least satisfied and 3(2.6%) respondents were not satisfied about service provider. Frequency of use of internet search engines Table 16 Sr. Use of search engines Mean Std. D 1 Google Yahoo Bing Ask MSN Alta Vista Rediff

14 Scale: 2= Often, 1= Sometimes, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding the frequency of use of internet search engines among college teachers in District Lodhran. The three point Likert scale of measurement was used to evaluate the frequency of use of internet search engines. It is clear from the results of the descriptive statistics that the respondents often like to usegoogle with a mean score 1.92,sometimes like to use Yahoo with mean score On the other hand the respondents never used MSN, Bing, Alta Vista and Rediff internet search engines with mean score 0.25, 0.24, 0.14, 0.12 and 0.00 respectively. Use of browser Table 17 Sr. Use of browser Mean Std. D 1 Mozilla Firefox Google Chrome Internet Explorer Maxthon Safari Opera Web freer Scale: 4= Always, 3= Frequently, 2= Sometimes, 1= Seldom, 0= Never Respondents were asked a question regarding use of internet browser the among college teachers in District Lodhran. The five point Likert scale of measurement was used to evaluate the use internet browser among college teachers. It has been observed from the results of the descriptive statistics that the respondents frequently like to use Google Chrome and Internet Explorer with a mean score 3.14,2.55. On the other hand respondents sometimes like to use a Mozilla Firefox with mean score2.50. Respondents seldom use Opera and Maxthon with a mean value 0.74, 0.62 and the respondents never used Safari and Web freer internet browser with mean value 0.19, 0.12 respectively. Problems during the use of internet Table 18 Sr. Problems facing N Yes No 1 Lack of time (80.0%) 23(20.0%) 2 Difficult Interface design (42.6%) 66(57.4%) 13

15 3 Insufficient searching skills (48.7%) 59(51.3%) 4 Over Load of information on the Internet (56.5%) 50(43.5%) 5 Slow speed of Internet (83.5%) 19(16.5%) 6 Non Connectivity (62.6%) 43(37.4%) 7 Inadequate number of computers (51.3%) 56(48.7%) 8 Lack of proper training (71.3%) 33(28.7%) 9 Difficulty in finding relevant material (40.0%) 69(60.0%) 10 Privacy problem (37.4%) 72(62.6%) 11 Power failure/load shedding (86.1%) 16(13.9%) The respondents (college teachers) were asked to pinpoint any problems that they might have encountered while using the internet. The responses are presented in Table XX. The most serious problems identified by the majority of respondents were (86.1%) power failure/load shedding, (83.5%) slow speed of internet, (80.0%) lack of time, (71.3%) lack of proper training, (62.6%) non connectivity, (56.5%) over load of information on the internet and (51.3%) inadequate number of computers. Other problems as identified by the respondents were as: (48.7%) insufficient searching skills, (42.6%) difficult interface design, (40.0%) difficulty in finding relevant material and (37.4%) privacy problem. Findings and Conclusion The data analysis presented above shows that there is a reasonable awareness among the college teachers of district Lodhran in the internet usage. The internet has facilitated the teachers to enhance their academic activities by providing access to worldwide information; though the situation is not very satisfactory as compare to advance countries. An encouraging result of the study represents the teacher s interest towards internet resources. The result of study shows that the majority of the respondents were young having age up to 40 years, 90.4% were working as lecturer, 60.9% having teaching experience up to 5 years, 87.8% have their own computers and 93.9% have internet access in their college. Majority (53.9%) of the respondent use internet daily; only 4.3% never used internet. Results show that respondents frequently like to use internet at home. The respondents frequently search information related to their subject, information to improve their education. The respondents frequently use internet for the purpose of literature search, sending and receiving s and to up-date their knowledge. On the other hand respondents use internet sometimes for the purposes of Assignments for teaching, Preparation of lectures Reading articles, Pleasure and Entertainment. 66.1% respondents were average satisfied about service provider. Majority of the respondents often use Google and Yahoo search engines. The respondents frequently liked to use Google chrome and internet explorer as internet browser. Main problems identified by the majority of respondents were power failure, slow speed of 14

16 internet, lack of time, lack of proper training, non connectivity, over load of information on the internet and inadequate number of computers. According to the findings of the study, the following recommendations are made to increase the usage of internet among college teachers of Lodhran district: Ample budget for Well-equipped computer labs and libraries with adequate number of computers should be provided by the college administration in district Lodhran. There should be proper policy for providing access to scholarly databases to college teachers as in universities of Pakistan. Facility of internet should be provided to college computer labs. as well as in the college libraries. It will increase the internet usage. The problem of power failure / load shedding must be solved as early as possible. Alternative energy resources should be used. Internet connectivity and speed issues should be resolved. Proper training of internet use and searching should be provided to the teaching staff to accelerate access to difference electronic sources of information and support their teaching and research activities. There is the need to conduct more studies on information needs and online information seeking behavior of college teachers for improved information provision. References References 1. Al-Ansari, H. (2006). Internet use by the faculty members of Kuwait University. Electronic Library, The, 24(6), Baby and Kumaravel (2011) Literature searching pattern of the Faculty of Sri Sarada College for Women: A study. International Journal of Library and Information Science Vol. 3(11), pp , 3. Bhatti, R., & Hanif, M. (2013). Impact of ICT on Social Science Faculty Members' Information Usage Pattern at Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan. Library Philosophy & Practice. 4. Bhatti (2010) Internet Use among Faculty Members in the Changing Higher Education Environment at the Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Pakistan. Library Philosophy & Practice 5. Khan S, Dominic J (2009). Use of Internet by the Faculty Members of Engineering Colleges of Moradabad: A Comparative Study, International 15

17 Conference on Academic Libraries (ICAL 2009) October 5 to 8, University of Delhi, Delhi 6. Muniandy, B. (2010). Academic use of internet among undergraduate students: a preliminary case study in a Malaysian university. Growth, 2000(200), Prabakaran, T. (2013). Use of E-Resources Among Faculty Members of Engineering Colleges in Cuddalore District: A Study. Journal of Advances in Library and Information Science, 2(2), Thanuskodi, S. (2011a). Internet use among the faculty members and the students in the professional colleges at Tirunelveli region: an analytical study. Educational Research, 2(13), Thanuskodi, S. (2011b). Use of ICT among Faculty Members of Self Financing Engineering Colleges in the Changing Higher Education Environment. Library Philosophy & Practice 16